Alive
by hanmajoerin
Summary: About half an hour ago, Kagome and her friends dropped the orphan Koharu off in a village she believed they'd never see again. Now she was back in the heart of it, and a white witch managed to steal a majority of her soul. There was only one person Kagome wanted to be with: InuYasha. A cannon drabble that takes place in volumes 15 and 16 of the manga.


Alive

An InuYasha fanfiction

About a half an hour ago, Kagome was walking away from this village, so how did she find herself back in it? Could a child who hadn't even emanated a demonic aura really possess an entire village, bounce back weapons, and steal souls? It just didn't make sense. Propped up against a hill of rubble, Kagome faced a graver realization: she was going to die. It was a bitter realization, accompanied immediately by the desire to go back in time and be forced into a bath of musty herbs. Kagome never thought she'd miss Urasue's soul soup, but there was a first for everything, especially now that she was ensnared in a limbo. It was agonizing. Kagome was so far away from the dirt and rocks pressing into her back, and yet she felt them. Entirely. Her skin was drowning in sweat, her back was strained against debris, her body was cramping, and her arms still felt poised in an archer's stance.

Kagome really was going to die. With both of her eyes closed, with all kinds of demonic auras blowing around her, with most of her soul confined to a mirror's surface, and without the one person she needed the most. "Kirara," Kagome whispered. She just had to figure out where InuYasha was and why Miroku left her here. "Kirara," she repeated, listening for the telltale patter of paws.

If Kagome was going to die, she wanted InuYasha to be there. "Please... take me... to InuYasha..." There was no one else in her life that she wanted to share this experience with, and there wasn't any time to question why. The priestess stretched open her eyelids only to find pink eyes peering curiously down at her. Kirara nuzzled her hair. The sensation was comforting, and Kagome could tell that the fire cat understood her request. If she hadn't, Kagome would've remained propped up against the pile of rubble; instead she was airborne, lifted and pulled forward against abnormally brisk winds.

Being mostly a body really sucked. Apparently, without most of the soul, the senses worked on overtime and not only felt everything, but made it nearly impossible to focus on anything. Because of that, it was hard for Kagome to make sense of what she and Kirara were flying into. There was Naraku, that white witch, Kagura, Miroku, Shippo, and InuYasha. And InuYasha. InuYasha's arms and legs stretched out in different directions. It gave him the appearance of a crudely drawn star with blood that decorated his fire rat armor like crayon shading.

When she asked Kirara to bring her to InuYasha, she envisioned him tossing aside the Tetsusaiga and taking her into his arms instead. She wanted to hear him yell her name and tell her to hang on just a little longer. InuYasha was supposed to inspire her, but Naraku made that impossible. He always seemed to get in the way of their happiness, and it wasn't fair. "InuYasha!" Kagura exclaimed. "I shall gladly take your head!" The threat was literally eye opening, and quicker than she could comprehend, Kagome deflected Kagura's attack.

The moment Kirara landed, Kagome slid down and her knees gracelessly collided with the ground. "Lady Kagome!" Miroku yelled, but she didn't pay attention to him. Naraku may have killed her ideal ending, but Kagome could still be there for InuYasha. Pebbles scraped against her knee caps while she crawled to his side. Staring down, his eyes became a lot like the tallest skyscrapers in Tokyo. Kagome could see every window—she felt the weight of each floor. "Ka...go...me..." he uttered. _He's alive_ , she thought, and suddenly she realized that she was that was too.

A/N: I took some liberties and explored what Kagome might have been thinking after having Kanna take her soul in volumes fifteen and sixteen of _InuYasha._ Naraku's ambush worked so well during that arch, and there's just no way that the gang felt invincible while battling him. Sango was down, Miroku was under pressure, InuYasha was in a stalemate with Kagura, and 90% of Kagome's soul was taken from her body. The chances of winning were definitely slim. And it makes me wonder if that's why, after Miroku left her in Kirara's care, Kagome just looked so (understandably) drained and exhausted. I wanted to try and put that exhaustion into words and see how it led Kagome to InuYasha's side.

Until next time,  
hanmajo


End file.
